Adjustable stabilizer for archery bow

ABSTRACT

An archery bow stabilizer having a weighting element and an elongated telescopically adjustable support for supporting the weighting element in selective spaced relationship with a bow, the support comprising an elongated round member slidably fitted into tubular member, the round member having a short cylindrical element eccentrically pivoted on the end thereof and nicely fitting the bore of the other member whereby the eccentrically pivoted cylindrical member locks the telescoping members in adjusted position when one member is rotated relative to the other and readily releases the members when the one is rotated oppositely relative to the other.

United States Patent [72] Inventors Earl H. Hoyt,Jr.

3,196,860 3,231,270 1/1966 Primary Examiner-Richard C. Pinkham Assistant ExaminerWilliam R. Browne Att0rneyCharles E. Markham 11510 Natural Bridge Road, Bridgeton, Mo. 63042; Paul N. Kennedy, 407 West Ridge Drive, O'Fallon, Mo. 63366 [21] Appl. No. 718,666

[22] Filed Apr. 4, 1968 [45] Patented June 29,1971

[54] ADJUSTABLE STABILIZER FOR ARCHERY BOW 6 Claims, 9 Drawing Figs.

member locks the telescoping members in adjusted position References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 8/1936 releases the memb tive to the other.

ADJUSTABLE STABILIZIER FOR ARCHERY BOW The invention relates to archery bow stabilizers and particularly to readily adjustable means connecting a weighting element to an archery bow so that its inertial resistance to bow movements may be conveniently varied.

A further object is to provide a bow stabilizer having an elongated, lightweight, telescopically adjustable support for adjustably supporting the weighting element in spaced relationship with a bow.

A further object is to provide a bow stabilizer having a telescopically adjustable support comprising two elongated members and including means which is rendered operative -to lock the support in an adjusted position by a slight rotational move ment of one of the members relative to the other in one direction and which is released by a slight rotational movement in the opposite direction.

A further object is to provide a stabilizer for a bow having a telescopically adjustable support comprising an elongated round member slidably entered into a tubing member and having means on the end thereof entered into said tubing member which locks the members in an adjusted position when either of the telescoping members is rotated relative to the other.

Further objects and advantages will appear from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawing.

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of an archery bow showing a stabilizer, constructed in accordance with the present invention, attached thereto;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged, partially sectionalized, elevational view of the stabilizer shown in FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are plan and elevational views, respectively, of the locking member;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged elevational view of the locking member pivot pin;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged, transverse, sectional view of the support member taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged, transverse, sectional view of the support member taken along line 7-7 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged, fragmentary, sectional view of an intermediate portion of the telescopic support showing the locking member; and

FIG. 9 is an enlarged, transverse, sectional viewtaken along line 9-9 of FIG. 2.

Referring to the drawing, an archery bow generally indicated at 10 has a handle section 12. The bow is shown in a braced position and is equipped with a string 14. Attached to the back side of the bow opposite the string side is a stabilizer generally indicated at 16. The stabilizer is shown attached to the bow at the lower end of a hand-gripping portion 18. The bow is provided with an internally and externally threaded bushing which is screw-threaded into the bow handle section and receives, in threaded engagement, a threaded stud portion 22 projecting from the inner end of stabilizer 16. The stabilizer 16 may, however, be mounted at any other desired position along the bow and on any side thereof, or the bow may be equipped with a plurality of stabilizers positioned along the bow as desired.

The stabilizer 16 comprises a smaller diameter tube 24 slidably fitted in a larger diameter tube 26, a weighting element 28 attached to the outer end of the larger diameter tube 26, and a locking device, generally indicated at 30, attached to the inner end of the smaller tube 24 for locking the tubes in any slidably adjusted position. The tubes 24 and 26 are relatively thin-walled and are constructed of high tensile strength aluminum alloy and are of such diameter as to be sufficiently rigid to support the weighting element without appreciable sagging. The purpose of using relatively thin-walled, lightweight tubing is to achieve the greatest practical spacing from the bow of the center of gravity of the entire mass of the stabilizer for any spacing of the weighting element from the bow while precluding objectionable sagging.

The smaller tube 24 is nicely fitted within the larger tube 26 for free sliding movement. The outer end of the larger tube 26 is provided with a cylindrical closure member 32 press fitted into the end of the tube. The member 32 has a central screwthreaded bore 34 which receives in threaded engagement a threaded stud 36 formed as a part of or rigidly attached to the weighting element 28. A pliable washer 38 is inserted between the weighting element and the end of tube 26.

The outer end of smaller tube 24 is provided with a bolt member, generally indicated at 36, comprising a smooth cylindrical head portion 36 press fitted into the inner end of the tube, a short slightly larger diameter flange portion 40 abutting the end of the tube, and a smaller diameter threaded stud portion-22 which enters and is threadedly engaged in the threaded bore in mounting bushing 20. A pliable washer 41 is inserted between the flange 40 and the bushing 20. The flange 40 is provided with wrench-engaging flats 42.

The inner end of smaller tube 24 is provided with a cylindrical closure member 44 press fitted into the end of the tube. The member 44 has a screw-threaded bore 46 having its axis parallel with the axes of member 46 and tube 24, but spaced therefrom. The eccentric threaded bore 46 receives in threaded engagement the reduced threaded end 48 of a smooth pin 50. The pin 50 has a head 52 slotted at 54 for a screwdriver.

Mounted for free rotation on pin 50 is a cylindrical locking member 56 having an eccentric bore 58 receiving pin 50. The bore 58 is positioned off the center or axis of cylindrical member 56 substantially the same amount that bore 46 and therefore pin 50 is positioned off the axis of closure member 44 and tube 24. The cylindrical member 56 is provided with an annular groove 60 intermediate of its length which receives a rubber O-ring 62. The smooth pin 56 is slightly longer than the cylindrical locking member 56, so that when the shoulder 64 formed by the reduced, lower, threaded portion 48 is screwed tight against the end of closure member 44, the member 56 will be free to rotate.

When the outer tube 26 is rotated, friction causes the cylindrical locking member 56 to turn on its eccentric pivot. When the locking member 56 is caused to turn by turning tube 26 to a position in which the circumferences of the locking member 56 and smaller tube 24 are concentric, the tube 24 and locking member 56 are freely slidable in outer tube 26. When tube 26 is turned slightly in either direction with relation to tube 24 when in this free slidablc condition, the locking device is caused to rotate on its eccentric pin and bind or lock the tubes against relative sliding movement. A slight rotation of tube 26 in the opposite direction releases the locking means and the tubes are again freely slidable.

The rubber O-ring 62 insures a more positive action and permits a greater tolerance of fit of the cylindrical locking member in the tube 26. That is, the fit of cylindrical member 56 in tube 26 can obviously be looser if the O-ring is used and yet cause it to be turned frictionally with the tube than if the O-ring is omitted. It will be understood, however, that entirely satisfactory operation of the locking device may be achieved without the use of any elastic or resilient frictional devices. The fit of the cylindrical member 56 need be no tighter than a slight slip fit with metal-to-metal contact to insure that the locking device will be rotated from a concentric to a locking position by relative rotation of the tubes. Only a very slight force is required to be imparted to locking member 56 through frictional engagement of tube 26 to rotate the locking member sufficiently from a position of concentricity with small tube 24 to a position of slight eccentricity wherein the binding or locking force progresses abruptly with the turning force.

A solid rod may be used in lieu of tube 24, if desired, and the locking member 56 may be positioned intermediate of the length of the rod on an eccentric pin joining oppositely extending portions of the rod. Other arrangements which lie within the spirit of the invention will occur to those skilled in the art.

The foregoing description is intended to be illustrative and following claims.

We claim:

1. An adjustable stabilizer for an archery bow comprising two elongated support members, one of which is hollow and the other being slidably entered therein in slip fit relationship for telescopic adjustment of the overall length of both members, weighting means of sufficient mass to provide inertial resistance for stabilizing a bow against movement at the outer end of one of said members, means at the outer end of the other member for connecting it to a bow, and means on the inner end of said other member for locking said support members in any adjusted position.

2. An adjustable stabilizer as set forth in claim 1 in which both elongated support members are lengths of lightweight tubing, one being smaller in diameter than the other and being entered into the other in slip fit relationship.

3. An adjustable stabilizer as set forth in claim 1 in which one of the elongated support members has a round axial bore, in which the other elongated member is round and slidably cntered into said bore, in which said locking means comprises a locking member pivotally mounted on the inner end of said other member on an eccentrically positioned pivot, and in which said locking member has an arcuate surface portion of substantially the same radius as said round axial bore contiguous with a wall portion of said bore.

4. An adjustable stabilizer as set forth in claim 3 in which said locking member is cylindrical in form, has a slip fit in said axial bore, and has an eccentric longitudinal bore therethrough which receives a pivot pin positioned eccentrically in and projecting from the inner end of said other support member.

5. An adjustable stabilizer as set forth in claim 1 in which one of the elongated support members has a round axial bore and the other is round and entered into the bore in slip fit relationship, in which said locking means comprises a'cylindrical member eccentrically pivoted on the inner end of said other member, in which said cylindrical member slidably fits in said axial bore, and in which said cylindrical member is provided with circumferentially extending means thereon to increase the friction between said cylinder and the wall of said bore.

6. An adjustable stabilizer as set forth in claim 75 in which said circumferentially extending means for increasing friction between said cylindrical member and the wall of said bore comprises an annulus of elastic resilient material stretched over the cylindrical member. 

1. An adjustable stabilizer for an archery bow comprising two elongated support members, one of which is hollow and the other being slidably entered therein in slip fit relationship for telescopic adjustment of the overall length of both members, weighting means of sufficient mass to provide inertial resistance for stabilizing a bow against movement at the outer end of one of said members, means at the outer end of the other member for connecting it to a bow, and means on the inner end of said other member for locking said support members in any adjusted position.
 2. An adjustable stabilizer as set forth in claim 1 in which both elongated support members are lengths of lightweight tubing, one being smaller in diameter than the other and being entered into the other in slip fit relationship.
 3. An adjustable stabilizer as set forth in claim 1 in which one of the elongated support members has a round axial bore, in which the other elongated member is round and slidably entered into said bore, in which said locking means comprises a locking member pivotally mounted on the inner end of said other member on an eccentrically positioned pivot, and in which said locking member has an arcuate surface portion of substantially the same radius as said round axial bore contiguous with a wall portion of said bore.
 4. An adjustable stabilizer as set forth in claim 3 in which said locking member is cylindrical in form, has a slip fit in said axial bore, and has an eccentric longitudinal bore therethrough which receives a pivot pin positioned eccentrically in and projecting from the inner end of said other support member.
 5. An adjustable stabilizer as set forth in claim 1 in which one of the elongated support members has a round axial bore and the other is round and entered into the bore in slip fit relationship, in which said locking means comprises a cylindrical member eccentrically pivoted on the inner end of said other member, in which said cylindrical member slidably fits in said axial bore, and in which said cylindrical member is provided with circumferentially extending means thereon to increase the friction between said cylinder and the wall of said bore.
 6. An adjustable stabilizer as set forth in claim 5 in which said circumferentially extending means for increasing friction between said cylindrical member and the wall of said bore comprises an annulus of elastic resilient material stretched over the cylindrical member. 